wfn.org | French Nuclear Testing in Pacific

[Sheila MESA <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
3 October 1997

This press release is issued jointly by Hiti Tau, French Polynesia; Eglise
Evang‚lique de Polyn‚sie fran‡aise (Evangelical Church of French
Polynesia); World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland; Centre de
Documentation et de Recherche sur la Paix et les Conflits (Documentation
and Research Centre on Peace and Conflict), Lyon, France; Wageningen
Agricultural University, The Netherlands; and the European Centre for
Studies, Information and Education on Pacific Issues, Zeist, The
Netherlands.

CHILDREN WORKED AT FRENCH NUCLEAR TEST SITES IN PACIFIC;
AUTHORITIES FAILED TO SET UP ADEQUATE HEALTH CONTROL
SYSTEM FOR FORMER WORKERS

A sociological inquiry into the health and well-being of Polynesian former
nuclear test site workers and islanders who lived within a radius of
500km of the French test sites in the Pacific reveals that 10% of the
estimated 10,000-15,000 Polynesians who worked there from 1963
were under 18 years of age when they began work.  6% were children
who were 16 years of age or younger.

This is one of the findings of a sociological inquiry conducted by a team
made up of representatives of the Polynesian NGO Hiti Tau and the Eglise
Evang‚lique de Polyn‚sie fran‡aise - Evangelical Church of French
Polynesia, and led by two independent Dutch sociologists from
Wageningen Agricultural University.  The research was coordinated
jointly by the World Council of Churches (WCC, Geneva, Switzerland),
the Centre de Documentation et de Recherche sur la Paix et les Conflits -
Documentation and Research Centre on Peace and Conflict (CDRPC,
Lyon, France) and the European Centre on Pacific Issues (ECSIEP, Zeist,
The Netherlands).

It is the first time since the French nuclear tests began in 1966 that
Polynesian former test site workers have been the subject of an
independent inquiry.  A representative number of 737 former test site
workers took part in the survey.  They answered a wide range of
questions about recruitment, work and living conditions at the test sites,
motives for working there, the type of work they carried out, and the
health system that was set up for them.

Of the workers, 41% said they had worked in possibly contaminated
zones, and 30% among them claimed they had worked with no
protective clothing.

Although a large majority (94%) of the test site workers underwent a
medical examination before they arrived at the test sites, only 48.5%
were examined at the end of their stay at the sites.   This indicates that
no health control system for the former test site workers exists.  The
position of the French authorities that there is no reason to believe that
the nuclear tests harmed the health of the Polynesians is therefore
biased, for the simple reason that the French authorities never bothered
to collect relevant data to prove their claim.  The argument made by the
French government that the cost of setting up an adequate health control
system for former workers would exceed the benefits of heightened
knowledge is not very convincing, given the huge amounts of money
invested in nuclear testing.   The research shows that on the basis of
official government statistics, it is impossible to deliver the scientific proof
that there is no relationship between the nuclear tests and the
occurrence of certain types of cancer in French Polynesia.

Many former test site workers complained about the health system. 
They say questions about whether a certain disease from which they
are suffering can be related to activities at the test sites are often
ignored or not taken seriously.  Generally, there is no confidence in the
health system which is shown by the fact that 91.3% of the former
workers would like an independent medical inquiry to be carried out.

The results of the research are published in the book (available in English
and French, price FF95; CHF25) "Moruroa and Us - Polynesians'
experiences during Thirty Years of Nuclear Testing in the French
Pacific",  by Pieter de Vries and Han Seur.

For information and a summary (in English or French) of the book:

Hiti Tau, Gabriel Tetiarahi   Phone +689.52.13.71
Eglise Evang‚lique de Polyn‚sie fran‡aise, Taaroanui Maraea   Phone
+689.46.06.00
World Council of Churches, John Newbury   Phone +41.22.791.61.52
CDRPC, Bruno Barrillot   Phone +33.478.36.93.03
ECSIEP, Madeleen Helmer   Phone +31.30.69.27.827

**********
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